GIS is scheduled for an election starting next week, September 12th. In connection with that election, we will be hosting a Q&A here for candidates. This will be an opportunity for members of the community to pose questions to the candidates on the topic of moderation. Participation is completely voluntary.


Here's how it'll work:




  • Please use link syntax using the [](URL) syntax instead of the syntax which puts the URLs at the bottom of the post - it will make creating the resulting questionnaire significantly easier if you do so.




Normally, this process is started at the beginning of the nomination phase for the election. We're trying an experiment where we push the two sessions of this back one week - question collection beginning a week before the actual election, and then the questionnaire opening when nominations begin.

On the one hand, this will mean that the nomination phase will not exist for users to get information about candidates in order to formulate questions. On the other hand, this will allow candidates to have a fixed set of questions ready by the time they start writing up their nominations, and give them time to have their responses up before any actual voting begins.


| |
  • Thanks for making this available so early. I just noticed that you said "Please use link syntax using the [](URL) syntax instead of the syntax which puts the URLs at the bottom of the post". If we reference any Q&As from our own Meta, I often use just the URL itself (so that it auto-displays the title of that question). Will that help or hinder you when creating the resulting questionnaire? – PolyGeo Sep 7 '16 at 1:43
  • No problem in doing that. – Grace Note Sep 7 '16 at 16:05
  • 1
    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the 2016 Moderator Election Q&A Questionnaire that the answers here fed into as questions has now gone live at meta.gis.stackexchange.com/questions/4333 – PolyGeo Sep 13 '16 at 7:47

12 Answers 12


We currently have nearly 19,000 (towards 25%) of the questions asked here unanswered.

If you think that's too many, then, as a moderator, would you see helping the community to address that number being a priority, and how might you do so?

| |



  • In your opinion, what do moderators do?
  • A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that? (has been removed to become a separate answer so that it can be voted on in its own right)
| |
  • "A diamond will be attached to everything you say and have said in the past, including questions, answers and comments. Everything you will do will be seen under a different light. How do you feel about that? " - +1 for this one – Midavalo Sep 9 '16 at 19:05
  • 1
    @Midavalo you may want to cut/paste that one out into a separate answer (as Grace recommends). Otherwise it currently would not appear likely to make the top 10. – PolyGeo Sep 9 '16 at 21:39
  • 1
    @Midavalo Since any delay may cost the question you like the chance to garner enough votes to make the question collection so, as an expedient, I have now cut/paste it out into that separate answer. This will also give you the chance to vote on it. – PolyGeo Sep 9 '16 at 22:33

To all nominee candidates

A lot of the moderation work is extremely mundane. It is deleting obvious spam, closing blatantly off-topic questions, and culling some of the worst rated posts in various dimensions.

Do you have the patience and commitment to become a GIS Stack Exchange Moderator?

The Art of Moderation:


heard this before? source: 2013 Moderator Election Q&A - Question Collection

| |
  • 3
    +1. "the ideal moderator does as little as possible". I think this is very important, because when moderators excessively stand out (let's say hypothetically doing lots of minor edits and stepping in to respond every post, there is a chance many users from our community will lose interest in participate; which is undesirable). – Andre Silva Sep 8 '16 at 13:02
  • 2
    @AndreSilva I think becoming a moderator should not stop a nominee from continuing to use the site as an engaged user. MadScientist and Shog9 reviewed the 2009 vintage “Theory of moderation” blog post in late 2014. You'll recognize one of the often quoted phrases that MadScientist considers problematic as being the one you cite and suggests that "The ideal moderator doesn't do 'as little as possible', they help to clean up their site to the best of their ability." – PolyGeo Sep 8 '16 at 20:55

What are the biggest challenges observed at GIS Stack Exchange and how will you as a moderator help address these challenges?

| |

Why do you want to become a moderator?

| |

If you are elected as a moderator, your vote to Close will instantly lead to a question being placed On Hold.

How long after you see a question, and decide in your own mind that it should be placed On Hold, do you think that it will be appropriate for you to do so?

| |

This is a question from the last election questionnaire. Credits to original asker Erica.

What is your GIS background/experience, and what software packages are your greatest strengths and weaknesses? What approach would you take when needing to moderate a Question/Answer about topics you are less proficient in?

| |

As a moderator on GIS SE you will sometimes need to communicate with SE staff and moderators from other SE sites.

What is your experience of the Stack Exchange network beyond the walls of GIS SE?

| |

Moderators often need to interpret the site’s scope, usually using a mix of the On Topic page and various Meta Q&As (usually tagged scope).

If you think the site’s scope, as currently documented and/or interpreted, is either too broad or too narrow, which single category of questions or potential questions would you most like to see removed from or added to its scope, or clarified within it, and why?

| |

Would you be able to view your upvote/downvote ratio and volume, which is available on your profile page, and comment on why you have adopted that particular voting pattern, and whether you think it would change if you became a moderator?

| |

The Main Q&A site is where most things happen related to GIS SE, but there are several other parts to the community, notably Meta GIS SE and the GIS Chat Room, that can contribute to its smooth running.

If you are not posting in them from time to time, why not, and will you as a moderator?

| |


(this answer was extracted from the "kick-off" post by @GraceNote, using the guideline given in that post)

| |

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .